Colin Randall writes: it is beginning to feel like a farewell. People supporting other clubs who have written, or been interviewed, in the past at Salut! Sunderland have been popping up again and this time it’s as we prepare to depart the Premier League. Will we have the stamina to find 46 ‘Who are You?’ candidates, plus fans of teams we meet for probably one round in each cup, next season? We’ll see.
Jon Ryan* is a friend, former colleague and lifelong Arsenal supporter. He misses the great occasions at Highbury, thinks the Emirates a great stadium as new ones go but little more than ‘part of the London entertainment scene’, and is worried about Arsène Wenger having been a great admirer. He’s been sympathetic all season towards SAFC but identified a need for change that hasn’t been forthcoming …
Salut! Sunderland: so where do you stand on the Arsène Wenger saga and has your opinion remained constant or shifted?
Jon Ryan: I changed my views on Arsène this season. He has been our greatest manager but I think the ‘will he’, ‘won’t he’ saga has been farcical and exposed Gazidis and Kroenke as men struggling to cope. It is the first big crisis for them both and they have been woeful.
Some of us, of course, would love the kind of failure he has brought your club. Is it time for Arsenal supporters to recognise theirs is a big club but no longer among the very biggest?
I have always seen the Arsenal as a club big on tradition with a great history and with a way of behaving that is the Arsenal way. We have a financial plan and have stuck to it over both transfers and wages. Chelsea and the two Manchester teams have no financial constraints so for the present it means the rest have to hope they slip up or someone can repeat ‘a Leicester’.
Who have been the heroes and villains of your season?
Ozil and Alexis have been both heroes and villains, players capable of exquisite skill and then capable of disappearing (Ozil) or sulking and giving the ball away in dangerous positions (Alexis). Rob Holding has been a revelation and is really one for the future.
And what would it take to make my second question unreasonably downbeat on Arsenal’s status within the pecking order of football?
If we win the FA Cup. People forget that we did spend many years in the doldrums where a top four finish would have been greeted ecstatically.
When you watch Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud, Ramsey etc, how do they stand up against the greats of the past, above all the Invincibles?
Ozil and Sanchez would have fitted into the Invincibles as for Ramsey, injuries have blighted his career. I think Bellerin would get in a lot of past teams.
And who are the players who’ve given you most pleasure over the years?
Liam Brady, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Charlie George, Tony Adams ….and my boyhood hero Vic Groves.
Can you call to mind any who should have been allowed nowhere near Highbury or the Emirates?
We have had some oddities over the years but Wenger unearthed nuggets like Viera and Petit and turned round the careers of Thierry and Bergkamp so you have to expect a few duds.
Speaking of Highbury, do you miss having a proper, intimate, rocking football ground instead of the soulless new stadium (best of the genre though it may be)?
Very much…the atmosphere is different and when you increase your capacity by nearly 50 per cent and boost the dreaded club level the type of support changes…..sadly we have become part of the London entertainment scene.
Where will Arsenal finish this season? Minimum expectation for next time?
Fifth….top four next season [answered before the 4-1 win at Stoke – Ed].
What about our dismal season. Did you see it coming?
There are other teams I would have seen more likely to be relegated than Sunderland. But recent history clearly indicated that something needed to be done. ….and it wasn’t.
Other thoughts on SAFC – the club, fans, chances of a quick return, Moyes etc?
I had hoped Moyes might be the answer but to me he has always looked acutely uncomfortable at all three clubs he has managed since leaving Everton. You have a fine stadium, a great fan base and only need three good, solid experienced players to get you back but you really need to bounce back next season. The fate of Blackburn and the struggles of Villa and Norwich are ample warning of what can happen.
Bleak thoughts on Sunderland after the woeful defeat to Swansea but presented with all the wit and wisdom we have come to associate with Pete Sixsmith‘s writing
Diving and the rest of the cheating ways of modern football: a dead issue since everyone’s at it, or still worth tackling?
I think video replays must be used – certainly for offside and penalty decisions. Something else that irritates is players feigning injury, a simple answer would be that any player treated in the pitch has to then spend five minutes off the pitch, if he is injured then it makes sense , if not it is summary justice.
Best ref, worst ref?
I have never been part of the Clattenburg fan club – I loathe the celebratory tattoos and studied camera poses……Martin Atkinson was superb in the Madrid Champions league semi final.
Your biggest gripe about modern football and how it might be answered?
Lack of consideration for away fans with some ridiculous kick off times and only 28,500 tickets for each side in the FA Cup final which is simply offensive and please don’t talk about the need to cater for the ‘football family’.
Will you be at our game? What will be the score?
I certainly will. A lot depends of how much we have to play for but I would go 3-1.
* Jon Ryan on hismelf:
I was a Fleet Street journalist for over 40 years as a news reporter, news editor and , most pleasurably , a sports editor on the Mail in Sunday and Sunday Telegraph. I now keep busy with grandchildren (Naomi ,7, is a Gooner), travelling and trying unravel the mystery of Wenger’s Future.
Interview: Colin Randall
A very interesting reflection on the Arsenal FC. I have spent a lifetime supporting the Gunners and can honestly say this has not been a vintage season. I totally understand the thoughts of Sunderland fans who would love to be in our position…in the Cup Final and in the top 4 for the last 20 years.
If you speak to “real Arsenal” fans (not the minor celebrity and idiots who fly offensive banners) you get to understand what we expect from the players honoured to wear our shirt. The most offensive comments came from Theo Walcott who was captain for our match at Crystal Palace. In the post match interview he said “Before the match we could feel they wanted to win more than us.”
Am I right in thinking that real fans will accept any performance if the players give 100%, show desire and have pride in the shirt?
Good luck Sunderland, I hope you bounce back next season and that you can return with your great away support to the Arsenal. My favourite Sunderland memory was watching a one man team, Montgomery, at Highbury with one of the best displays of goalkeeping I’ve ever seen!
What a great post. Thanks Mike.
I’m glad you mentioned Monty’s heroics at Highbury. I think he probably produced more one man Alamo displays than any ‘keeper of his era – or any other. I remember one game at The Valley when he took on the entire Charlton attack for 90 minutes. Final score 0-0. Incredible man.
Back in my youth, Len Shackleton used to reserve his best form for Highbury [ I did read that he was rejected by Arsenal as a young man because he was considered too small ] He seemed to take great delight in turning it on against The Gunners, although we still didn’t seem to win many!
William
Is my memory correct in remembering another larger than life player for Sunderland by the name of Charlie Hurley?
The reason is my father was an Irishman and he used to tell me to watch out for “this colossal centre half”
I also recall comments about Sunderland being the “Bank of England” team…. no idea where that came from unfortunately !
Hi Mike
Your Dad was spot on. Charlie Hurley was indeed a colossus. we signed him from Millwall and he became a legend for us. A few years ago he was voted Sunderland’s greatest ever player. I’m pleased to say that he is still around.
We were termed the ” Bank of England ” club in the early 1950’s. Seems incredible now. Our manager was Bill Murray, and he assembled a very expensive and talented squad which included Shackleton, Trevor Ford, Ivor Broadis, Billy Elliott, Ray Daniel [ from Arsenal ] Billy Bingham, Willie Watson et al. All of these players were internationals, and in truth we should have hoovered up some silverware, but somehow they never really clicked, and I think the best we did in that period was finishing third in the old first division. great days however, and we were always worth watching.
We broke the transfer record several times – albeit it was around £30K in those days, and the players themselves earned little more than a well paid working bloke.
It has all gone totally silly now of course, and our main claim to financial fame is the amount of our debt.
They were great days to be a football fan, and I personally preferred everything about football in comparison to now. I am however in my 80th year so I could be considered to be a bit out of date!
Good luck to the Gunners.
I will enter my 70th year in August, William, and couldn’t agree more. Every young football supporter should be required to read Pete Sixsmith’s devastating piece on our last home game and what it told us about where we are now .
Sort of explains why some of us, merely going back to the 60s in the case of Sixer and I, start to question our lifelong passion https://safc.blog/2017/05/sixers-swansea-soapbox-abject-and-dismal-much-worse-than-that/
“The King” was one of the pioneers of centre halves coming up for corners. As far as I am aware we have not scored a headed goal this season. Oh, how times change.